NFU Grassroots Policy Discussions Begin in Washington

WASHINGTON -- National Farmers Union (NFU) commenced its grassroots policy revision process this week with the 2014 policy committee in Washington, D.C. This year’s committee is comprised of Tim Velde (chairman) of Minnesota, Tom Coudron of Missouri, William Downs of Montana, Vern Jantzen of Nebraska, Joel Keierleber of South Dakota, Kim Klose of North Dakota, Aaron Heley Lehman of Iowa, Harvey Schroeder of Oklahoma, and Tom Wingfield of Rocky Mountain. The committee members are all outstanding leaders in their state/regional Farmers Union organizations and were nominated by their respective state’s president to serve on the committee.

“NFU is proud of its grassroots process for policy formation, and the policy committee is vital to carrying out that tradition,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “The committee is tasked with reviewing our current policies and offering changes and additions for the delegates to vote on at our upcoming convention. This policy is what we will advocate for during the course of the next year.”

The committee will hear from Brian Baenig, chief of staff, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); Sarah Bittleman, senior agricultural counselor, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Doug McKalip, senior policy advisor for rural affairs, White House Domestic Policy Council, to ensure they have a broad working knowledge of current legislative and regulatory issues as they revise NFU’s organizational policy.

“The committee is here working just as the Farm Bill Conference Committee is hopefully wrapping up its negotiations,” said Johnson. “We hope that this week will prove to be productive in concluding a farm bill right alongside our ending the first phase of our policy process.”

This week is the first part of a two-step process. The second part of the process will take place in March during NFU’s convention. During the convention, any Farmers Union member may propose changes to the policy. The committee then considers those proposals and submits a final copy of the suggested policy to the state delegates at the convention for consideration and adoption. NFU’s 112th Anniversary Convention will take place on March 8 -11, in Santa Fe, N.M. Visit www.nfu.org/convention for more details.

National Farmers Union has been working since 1902 to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family farmers, ranchers and rural communities through advocating grassroots-driven policy positions adopted by its membership.

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